CHAPTER III.

1. Zaratûst enquired of Aûharmazd thus: 'O Aûharmazd, propitious spirit! creator of the material world, righteous one! whence do they restore this good religion of the Mazdayasnians? and by what means will they destroy these demons with dishevelled hair 1, of the race of Wrath? 2. O creator! grant me death! and grant my favoured ones death I that they may not live in that perplexing time; grant them exemplary living! that they may not prepare wickedness and the way to hell.'

3. Aûharmazd spoke thus: 'O Zaratûst the Spîtâmân! after the ill-omened 2 sovereignty of those of the race of Wrath 3 there is a fiend, Shêdâspîh 4 of the Kilisyâkîh, from the countries of Salmân 5;' Mâhvand-dâd

said that these people are Rûman (Arûmâyîk), and Rôshan 1 said that they have red weapons, red banners, and red hats (kûlâh). 4. 'It is when a symptom of them appears, as they advance, O Zaratûst the Spîtâmân! the sun and the dark show signs, and the moon becomes manifest of various colours; earthquakes (bûm-guzand), too, become numerous, and the wind comes mote violently; in the world want, distress, and discomfort come more into view; and Mercury and Jupiter advance the sovereignty for the vile 2, and they are in hundreds and thousands and myriads. 5. They have the red banner of the fiend Shêdâspîh of Kilisyâkîh, and they hasten much their progress to these countries of Iran which I, Aûharmazd, created, up to the bank of the Arvand 3,' some have said 4 the Frât 5 river, 'unto the Greeks (Yûnân) dwelling in Asûristân;' they are Greeks by strict reckoning 6,

and their Assyrian dwelling is this, that they slay the Assyrian people therein, and thus they will destroy their abode, some have said the lurking-holes (grêstak) of the demons.

6. They turn back those of the race of Wrath 1 in hundreds and thousands and myriads; and the banners, standards, and an innumerable army of those demons with dishevelled hair will come to these countries of Iran which I, Aûharmazd, created. 7. And the army of the invader 2 is an extending enemy of the Tûrk 3 and even the Karm 4, be it with banners aloft when he shall set up a banner, be it through the excessive multitude which will remainlike hairs in the mane of a horsein the countries of Iran which I, Aûharmazd, created.

8. 'The leathern-belted Tûrk and the Rûman Shêdâspîh of Kilisyâkîh come forth with simultaneous movement 5, and in three places, with similar strife, there was and will be three times a great contest (ârdîh), O Zaratûst the Spîtâmân! One in the reign of Kaî-Kâûs 6, When through

the assistance of demons it was with the archangels; and the second when thou, O Zaratûst the Spîtâmân! receivedst the religion and hadst thy conference, and King Vistâsp and Argâsp 1, miscreated by wrath, were, through the war of the religion, in the combat of Spêd-razûr ("the hoary forest 2"),' some have said it was in Pars; 'and the third when it is the end of thy millennium, O Zaratûst the Spîtâmân! when all the three, Tûrk, Arab, and Rûman, come to this 3 place,' some have said the plain of Nîsânak 4. 10. 'And all those of the countries of Iran, which I, Aûharmazd, created, come from their own place unto Padashkhvârgar 5, owing to those of the race of Wrath, O Zaratûst the Spîtâmân! so that a report of something of the cave dwellings, mountain dwellings, and river dwellings of these people will remain at Padashkhvârgar and Pârs; some have said the fire Visnâsp 6, on the deep Lake Kêkast which has medicinal water opposed to the demons, is there (in Padashkhvârgar?) as it were conspicuous,' some have said 'originating 7,' 'so that

they may use it anew, and the fire may become shining in these countries of Iran which I, Aûharmazd, created. 11. For when one shall be able to save his own life, he has then no recollection of wife, child, and wealth, that they may not live, in that perplexing time, O Zaratûst! yet the day when the hundredth winter becomes the end of thy millennium, which is that of Zaratûst, is so that nothing wicked may go from this millennium into that millennium 1.'

12. Zaratûst enquired of Aûharmazd thus: 'O Aûharmazd, propitious spirit! creator of the material world, righteous one! when they are so many in number, by what means will they be able to perish 1?'

13. Aûharmazd spoke thus: 'O Zaratûst the Spîtâmân! when the demon with dishevelled hair of the race of Wrath comes into notice in the eastern quarter, first a black token becomes manifest, and Hûshêdar son of Zaratûst is born on Lake Frazdân 2. 14. It is when he comes to his conference with me 3, Aûharmazd, O Zaratûst the Spîtâmân!' that in the direction of Kînistân 4, it is saidsome have said among the Hindus'is born a prince (kaî); it is his father, a prince of the Kayân race, approaches the

women, and a religious prince is born to him; he calls his name Vâhrâm the Vargâvand 1,' some have said Shahpûr. 15. 'That a sign may come to the earth, the night when that prince is born, a star falls from the sky; when that prince is born the star shows a signal.' 16. It is Dâd-Aûharmazd 2who said that the month Âvân and day Vâd3 is his father's end; they rear him with the damsels of the king, and a woman becomes ruler.

17. 'That prince when he is thirty years old'some have told the time'comes with innumerable banners and divers armies, Hindu and Kînî 4, having uplifted bannersfor they set up their bannershaving exalted banners, and having exalted weapons; they hasten up with speed 5 as far as the Vêh river'some have said the country of Bambŏ 6'as far as Bukhâr and the Bukhârans within its bank,

[paragraph continues] O Zaratûst the Spîtâmân! 18. When the star Jupiter comes up to its culminating point (bâlist) 1 and casts Venus down, the sovereignty comes to the prince. 19. Quite innumerable are the champions, furnished with arms and with banners displayed,' some have said from Sagastân, Pârs, and Khûrâsân, some have said from the lake of Padashkhvârgar 2, some have said from the Hirâtîs 3 and Kôhistân, some have said from Taparistân 4; and from those directions every supplicant for a child 5 comes into 6 view. 26. It is concerning the displayed banners and very numerous army, which were the armed men, champions, and soldiers from the countries of Iran at Padashkhvârgarwhom I told thee 7 that they call both Kurd and Karmânit is declared

that they will slay an excessive number, in companionship and under the same banner, for these countries of Iran.

21. 'Those of the race of Wrath and the extensive army 1 of Shêdâspîh, whose names are the two-legged wolf and the leathern-belted demon on the bank of the Arvand 2, wage three battles, one in Spêd-razûr 3 and one in the plain of Nîsânak;' some have said that it was on the lake of the three races, some have said that it was in Marûv4 the brilliant, and some have said in Pârs. 22. For the support of the countries of Iran is the innumerable army of the east; its having exalted banners 5, is that they have a banner of tiger skin (bôpar pôst), and their wind banner is white cotton 6; innumerable are the mounted troops, and they ride up to the lurking-holes 7 of the demons; they will slay so that a thousand women can afterwards see and kiss but one man.

23. When it is the end of the time 1, O Zaratûst the Spîtâmân! those enemies will be as much destroyed as the root of a shrub when it is in the night on which a cold winter arrives, and in this night it sheds its leaves; and they will reinstate these countries of Iran which I, Aûharmazd, created 2.

24. And with speed rushes the evil spirit, with the vilest races of demons and Wrath with infuriate spear 3, and comes on to the support and assistance of those demon-worshippers and miscreations of wrath, O Zaratûst the Spîtâmân! 25. And I, the creator Aûharmazd, send Nêryôsang the angel and Srôsh the righteous 4 unto Kangdez5, which the illustrious Sîyâvakhsh 6 formed, and toKîtrô-mîyân 7son of Vistâsp, the glory of the Kayâns, the just restorer of the religion, to speak thus: "Walk forth, O illustrious Pêshyôtanû! to these countries of Iran which I, Aûharmazd, created; consecrate the fire and waters for the Hâdôkht 8and Dvâzdah-hômâst!

26. And Nêryôsang proceeds, with Srôsh the righteous, from the good Kakâd-i-Dâîtîk 1 to Kangdez, which the illustrious Sîyâvakhsh formed, and cries out from it thus: "Walk forth, O illustrious Pêshyôtanû! O Kîtrô-mîyân son of Vistâsp, glory of the Kayâns, just restorer of the religion! walk forth to these countries of Iran which I, Aûharmazd, created! restore again the throne of sovereignty of the religion!"

27. Those spirits move on, and they propitiate them; with holy-water the illustrious Pêshyôtanû celebrates the Dvâzdah-hômâst, with a hundred and fifty righteous who are disciples of Pêshyôtanû, in black marten fur, and they have garments as it were of the good spirit. 28. They walk up with the words: "Hûmat, hûkht, hûvarst 2" and consecrate

the fire of the waters; with the illustrious Hâdôkht they bless me, Aûharmazd, with the archangels, and after that it demolishes one-third of the opposition. 29. And the illustrious Pêshyôtanû walks forth, with the hundred and fifty men who wear black marten fur, and they celebrate the rituals (yasnân) of the Gadman-hômand ("glorious") fire, which they call the Rôshanô-kerp ("luminous form") 1, which is established at the appointed place (dâtô-gâs), the triumphant ritual of the Frôbâ fire, Horvadad, and Amerôdad, and the ceremonial (yazisn) with his priestly co-operation; they arrange and pray over the sacred twigs; and the ritual of Horvadad and Amerôdad, in the chapter of the code of religious formulas (nîrangistân) 2 demolishes three-thirds of the opposition. 30. Pêshyôtanû son of Vistâsp walks forth, with the assistance of the Frôbâ fire, the fire Gûsnâsp, and the fire Bûrzîn-Mitrô 3, to the great idol-temples, the abode of the demons4; and the wicked evil spirit, Wrath with infuriate spear 5, and all demons and fiends, evil races and wizards, arrive at the deepest abyss of hell; and those idol-temples are extirpated by the exertions of the illustrious Pêshyôtanû.

31. And I, the creator Aûharmazd, come to Mount Hûkaîryâd6 with the archangels, and I issue

orders to the archangels that they should speak to the angels of the spiritual existences thus: "Proceed to the assistance of the illustrious Pêshyôtanû!" 32. Mitrô of the vast cattle-pastures, Srôsh the vigorous, Rashn the just, Vâhrâm 1 the mighty, Âstâd the victorious, and the glory of the religion of the Mazdayasnians, the stimulator of religious formulas (nîrang), the arranger of the world, proceed2 to the assistance of the illustrious Pêshyôtanû, through the order of which I, the creator, have just written 3.

33. Out of the demons of gloomy race the evil spirit cries to Mitrô of the vast cattle-pastures thus: "Stay above in truth 4, thou Mitrô of the vast cattle-pastures!"

34. And then Mitrô of the vast cattle-pastures cries thus: "of these nine thousand years support, which during its beginning produced Dahâk of evil religion, Frâsîyâv of Tûr, and Alexander 5 the Rûman, the period of one thousand years of those leathern-belted demons with dishevelled hair is a more than moderate reign to produce 6."

35. The wicked evil spirit becomes confounded when he heard this; Mitrô of the vast cattle-pastures will smite Wrath of the infuriate spear with

stupefaction; and the wicked evil spirit flees, with the miscreations and evil progeny he flees back to the darkest recess of hell. 36. And Mitrô of the vast cattle-pastures cries to the illustrious Pêshyôtanû thus: "Extirpate and utterly destroy the idol-temples, the abode of the demons! proceed to these countries of Iran which I, Aûharmazd, created! restore again the throne of sovereignty of the religion over the wicked! when they see thee they will be terrified."

37. And the illustrious Pêshyôtanû advances, and the fire Frôbâ, the fire Gûsnasp, and the triumphant fire Bûrzîn-Mitrô will smite the fiend of excessive strength; he will extirpate the idol-temples that are the abode of demons; and they celebrate the ceremonial (yazisn), arrange the sacred twigs, solemnize the Dvâzdah-hômâst, and praise me, Aûharmazd, with the archangels; this is what I foretell 1. 38. The illustrious Pêshyôtanû walks forth to these countries of Iran which I, Aûharmazd, created, to the Arvand and Vêh river 2; when the wicked see him they will be terrified, those of the progeny of gloom and those not worthy.

39. 'And regarding that Vâhrâm the Vargâvand it is declared that he comes forth in full glory, fixes upon Vandîd-khîm 3 ("a curbed temper"), and having intrusted him with the seat of mobadship of the

mobads 1, and the seat of true explanation of the religion, he restores again these countries of Iran which I, Aûharmazd, created; and he drives 2 away from the world covetousness, want, hatred, wrath, lust, envy, and wickedness. 40. And the wolf period goes away, and the sheep period comes on; they establish the fire Frôbâ, the fire Gûsnâsp, and the fire Bûrzîn-Mitrô again at their proper places, and they will properly supply the firewood and incense; and the wicked evil spirit becomes confounded and unconscious, with the demons and the progeny of gloom. 41. And so the illustrious Pêshyôtanû speaks thus: "Let the demon be destroyed, and the witch be destroyed! let the fiendishness and vileness of the demons be destroyed! and let the gloomy progeny of the demons be destroyed! The glory 3 of the religion of the Mazdayasnians prospers, and let it prosper! let the family 4 of the liberal and just, who are doers of good deeds, prosper! and let the throne of the religion and sovereignty have a good restorer!" 42. Forth comes the illustrious Pêshyôtanû, forth he comes with a hundred and fifty men of the disciples who wear black marten fur, and they take the throne of their own religion and sovereignty.'

43. Aûharmazd said to Zaratûst the Spîtâmân: This is what I foretell, when it is the end of thy millennium it is the beginning of that of Hûshêdar 5.

[paragraph continues] 44. Regarding Hûshêdar it is declared that he will be born in 1600 1, and at thirty years of age he comes to a conference with me, Aûharmazd, and receives the religion. 45. When he comes away from the conference he cries to the sun with the swift horse 2, thus: "Stand still!"

days and nights; and when this happens all the people of the world abide by the good religion of the Mazdayasnians. 47. Mitrô of the vast cattle-pastures cries to Hûshêdar, son of Zaratûst, thus: "O Hûshêdar, restorer of the true religion! cry to the sun with the swift horse thus: 'Move on!' for it is dark in the regions of Arzâh and Savâh, Fradadafsh and Vîdadafsh, Vôrûbarst and Vôrûgarst, and the illustrious Khvanîras 1."

48. 'Hûshêdar son of Zaratûst cries, to the sun he cries, thus: "Move on!" 49. The sun with the swift horse moves on, and Vargâvand 2 and all mankind fully believe in the good religion of the Mazdayasnians.'

50. Aûharmazd spoke thus: O Zaratûst the Spîtâmân! this is what I foretell, that this one brings the creatures back to their proper state. 51. When it is near the end of the millennium Pêshyôtanû 3 son of Vistâsp comes into notice, who is a Kayân that advances triumphantly; and those enemies who relied upon fiendishness, such as the Tûrk, Arab, and Rûman, and the vile ones who control 4 the Iranian sovereign with insolence and oppression and enmity to the sovereignty, destroy the fire and make the religion weak; and they convey their power and success to him and every one who accepts the law and religion willingly; if he

accept it unwillingly the law and religion ever destroy him1 till it is the end of the whole millennium.

52. And, afterwards, when the millennium of Hûshêdar-mâh comes, through Hûshêdar-mâh 2 the creatures become more progressive, and he utterly destroys the fiend of serpent origin 3; and Pêshyôtanû son of Vistâsp becomes, in like manner, high-priest and primate (rad) of the world 4. 53. In that millennium of Hûshêdar-mâh mankind become so versed in medicine, and keep and bring physic and remedies so much in use, that when they are confessedly at the point of death they do not thereupon die, nor when they smite and slay them with the sword and knife 5.

54. Afterwards, one begs a gift of any description out of the allowance of heretics, and owing to depravity and heresy they do not give it. 55. And Aharman rises through that spite 6 on to the mountain

of Dimâvand 1, which is the direction of Bêvarâsp, and shouts thus: "Now it is nine thousand years, and Frêdûn is not living; why do you not rise up, although these thy fetters are not removed, when 2 this world is full of people, and they have brought them from the enclosure which Yim formed 3?"

56. After that apostate shouts like this, and because of it, Az-i Dahâk 4 stands up before him, but, through fear of the likeness of Frêdûn in the body of Frêdûn, he does not first remove those fetters and stake from his trunk until Aharman removes them. 57. And the vigour of Az-i Dahâk increases, the fetters being removed from his trunk, and his impetuosity remains; he swallows down the apostate on the spot 5, and rushing into the world to perpetrate sin, he commits innumerable grievous sins; he swallows down one-third of mankind, cattle, sheep, and other creatures of Aûharmazd; he smites the water, fire, and vegetation, and commits grievous sin.

58. And, afterwards, the water, fire, and vegetation stand before Aûharmazd the lord in lamentation, and make this complaint: "Make Frêdûn alive again! so that he may destroy Az-i Dahâk; for if thou, O Aûharmazd! dost not do this, we cannot

exist in the world; the fire says thus: I will not heat; and the water says thus: I will not flow."

59. And then I, Aûharmazd the creator, say to Srôsh and Nêryôsang the angel: "Shake the body of Keresâsp the Sâmân, till he rises up!"

60. 'Then Srôsh and Nêryôsang the angel go to Keresâsp 1; three times they utter a cry, and the fourth time Sâm rises up with triumph, and goes to meet Az-i Dahâk. 61. And 2 Sâm does not listen to his words, and the triumphant club strikes him on the head, and smites and kills him; afterwards, desolation and adversity depart from this world, while I make a beginning of the millennium 3. 62. Then Sôshyans 4 makes the creatures again pure, and the resurrection and future existence occur.'

63. May the end be in peace, pleasure, and joy, by the will of God (yazdânŏ)! so may it be! even more so may it be!

Footnotes

215:3 The Pâz. MSS. add, 'the leathern-belted Tûrks,' that is, people of Turkistân.

215:4 This fiend appears to be a personification of Christianity or 'ecclesiasticism' (Kilisyâkîh, see Chap. II, 19), and the writer seems to place his appearance some time in the middle ages, probably before the end of the thirteenth century (see the note on § 44). Darmesteter suggests that Shêdâsp may have been intended as a modern counterpart of Bêvarâsp (Az-i Dahâk), the ancient tyrant; and that this Christian invasion may be a reminiscence of the crusades.

215:5 I have formerly read Mûsulmân instead of min Salmân, and hence concluded that the text must have been written long p. 216 after the Muhammadan conquest of Persia; but this reading is irreconcilable with the context. The position of Salmân (Av. Sairima) is defined by Bund. XX, 12, which places the sources of the Tigris in that country.

216:1 The name. of a commentator, or commentary, often quoted in the Pahlavi Vendidad, and other texts. Mâhvand-dâd is mentioned in the Pahlavi Yasna (see Sls. I, 4).

216:2 The Pâz. MSS. state that 'Mercury and Jupiter beat down the strength of Venus.'

216:3 Here written Arang, Arand, or Arvad, but as it is Arvand in §§ 21, 38, that reading seems preferable, the difference between the two names in Pahlavi being merely a single stroke. The Arvand is the Tigris, and the Arang probably the Araxes (see SZS. VI, 20, Bund. XX, 8)..

216:4 Literally, 'there are and were some who said;' this phrase occurs several times in the latter part of this text.

216:6 Or, 'of strict reckoning,' reading sâkht amâr, but both reading and meaning are very uncertain. As it stands in K26 it p. 217 may be sâkht gumâl, 'extreme beauty,' or Sâkhtîmâr (the name of a place), or this may stand for sâkht tîmâr, 'severe misfortune;' and other readings are possible.

217:6 See Bund. XXXI, 25, XXXIV, 7. The letters are here joined together, so as to become Kai-gâûs, and this form of the name is p. 218 often read Kâhûs or Kahôs in Pâzand (see Mkh. VIII, 27, XXVII, 54, LVII, 21). The Pâz. MSS. omit § 9.

218:7 The most obvious reading of this word is mâhîk, 'fish,' which can hardly be reconciled with the context. The view here taken is that the writer was translating from an Avesta text, and met p. 219 with the word kithra, which means both pêdâk, 'clear,' and tôkhmak, 'originating,' but to express the latter meaning he used the synonym mâyakîk, which can be written exactly like mâhîk. Owing to the involved character of this section it is not very clear in English, but it is still more obscure in the Pahlavi text, in which the whole of this clause about the fire is inserted parenthetically after the first mention of Padashkhvârgar.

219:1 This last clause may be read several ways, and it is by no means easy to ascertain clearly the chronological order of the events which are jumbled together in this last chapter. But it would appear that Zaratûst's millennium was to end at a time when the religion was undisturbed, and just before the incursion of the demons or idolators, the details of which have been given in Chap. II, 22-III, 11, and which is the first event of Hûshêdar's millennium (see § 13). Now according to Bund. XXXIV, 7-9, the interval from 'the coming of the religion,' in the reign of Kaî-Vistâsp, to the end of the Sasanian monarchy was 90 + 112 + 30 + 12 + 14 + 14 + 284 + 460 =1016 years. If by 'the coming of the religion' be meant the time when Zaratûst received it, as he was then thirty years old, he must have been born 1046 years before the end of the Sasanian monarchy (A.D. 651), and the end of his millennium must have been in A.D. 605, the sixteenth year of Khûsrô Parvîz, when the Sasanian power was near its maximum, and only a score of years before it began suddenly to collapse. This close coincidence indicates that the writer of the Bahman Yast must have adopted the same incorrect chronology as is found in the Bundahis. If, however, 'the coming of the religion' mean its acceptance by Vistâsp, which occurred in Zaratûst's fortieth or p. 220 forty-second year, his birth must have been ten or twelve years earlier. and his millennium must have ended A.D. 593-595. But according to the imperfect chronology of Bund. XXXIV the tenth millennium of the world, that of Capricornus, commenced with 'the coming of the religion,' and ended, therefore, in A.D. 635, the fourth year of Yazdakard, the last Sasanian king, when the Muhammadans were just preparing for their first invasion; so the millennium of Aquarius is very nearly coincident with that of Hûshêdar, and may probably be intended to represent it. It appears, therefore, that the millennium of Hûshêdar is altogether past, having extended from A.D. 593-635 to A.D. 1593-1635.

220:1 The Paz. MSS. omit § 12. The writer having detailed the evils of the iron age, now returns to its commencement in order to describe the means adopted for partially counteracting those evils.

220:2 See Bund. XXII, 5, XXXII, 8. The Pâz. MSS. add, 'they bring him up in Zâvulistân and Kâvulistân;' and the Pers. version says, 'on the frontier of Kâbulistân.' With regard to the time of Hûshêdar's birth, see § 44. His name is always written Khûrshêdar in K20.

220:3 The Pâz. and Pers. versions say, 'at thirty years of age,' as in § 44.

221:1 Bahrâm the illustrious or splendid (Av. varekanghand, compare Pers. varg), an epithet applied, in the Avesta, to the moon, Tistrya, the scriptures, the royal glory of the Kayânians, the Kayânians themselves, and the hero Thrita. This personage may possibly be an incarnation of the angel Bahrâm, mingled with some reminiscences of the celebrated Persian general Bahrâm Kôpîn; but see §§ 32, 49.

221:2 A commentator who is quoted in the Pahlavi Yas. XI, 22; see also Chap. I, 7.

221:3 The 22nd day of the eighth month of the Parsi year, corresponding to October 7th when the year began at the vernal equinox, as the Bundahis (XXV, 6, 7, 20, 21) describes.

221:5 Or, 'light up with glitter,' according as we read tâgend or tâvend. The Pâz. MSS. omit §§ 17-44, except one or two isolated phrases.

221:6 Spiegel was inclined to identify this name with Bombay, but this is impossible, as the MS. K20 (in which the name occurs) was written some two centuries before the Portuguese invented the name of Bombay. Its original name, by which it is still called by p. 222 its native inhabitants, being Mumbaî. The locality mentioned in the text is, evidently to be sought on the banks of the Oxus near Bukhârâ; the Oxus having been sometimes considered the upper course of the Arag, and sometimes that of the Veh (see Bund. XX, 22, note 5). It is hardly probable that either Bâmî (Balkh) or Bâmiyân would be changed into Bambŏ, and the only exact representative of this name appears to be Bamm, a town about 120 miles S. E. of Kirmân; this is quite a different locality from that mentioned in the text, but it is hazardous to set bounds to the want of geographical knowledge displayed by some of the Pahlavi commentators.

222:1 Compare SZS. IV, 8. Here the triumph of Jupiter over Venus appears to be symbolical of the displacement of the queen dowager by her son.

222:7 See § 10, but as nothing is said there about Kurd or Karmân, it is possible that the writer meant to say, 'of whom I told thee, p. 223 and whom they call both Kurd and Karmân.' It is more probable, however, that he is referring to § 7.

223:6 Supposing that bandôk may be equivalent to Pers. bandak, but the usual Pahlavi term for cotton is pumbak (Pers. punbah).

223:7 Reading grestak as in § 5, but the word can also be read dar dîdak, 'gate watch-tower.' It is possible that the drugŏ geredha, 'pit of the fiend,' of Vend. III, 24, may be here meant; the gate of hell, whence the demons congregate upon the Arezûr ridge (Bund. XII, 8).

224:1 Compare, 'and at the time of the end' (Dan. xi. 40). The writer appears to be here finally passing from a description of the past into speculations as to the future, which he has hitherto only casually indulged in.

224:2 The supernatural means supposed to be employed for the destruction of the wicked and the restoration of the good are detailed in the following paragraphs.

224:4 The two angels who are the special messengers of Aûharmazd to mankind (see Bund. XV, 1, XXX, 29). This message was expected to be sent to Pêshyôtanû near the end of Hûshêdar's millennium (see § 51).

224:8 This was the twentieth nask or 'book' of the complete Mazdayasnian literature, according to the Dînkard; but the Dînî-vagarkard and the Rivâyats make it the twenty-first, and say very p. 225 little about its contents (see Haug's Essays, pp. 133, 134). The Dînkard, in its eighth book, gives the following account of this Nask:

The Hâdôkht as it exists has three divisions among its 133 sections. The first has thirteen (twelve?) sections, treatises upon the nature of the recital of the Ahunavar, which is the spiritual benefit from chanting it aloud, and whatever is on the same subject. Admonition about selecting and keeping a spiritual and worldly high-priest, performing every duty as to the high-priest, and maintaining even those of various high-priests. On the twenty-one chieftainships of the spirits in Aûharmazd, and of the worldly existences in Zaratûst, among which are the worship of God and the management of the devout. On the duty requisite in each of the five different periods of the day and night, and the fate at the celestial bridge of him who shall be zealous in the celebration of the season-festivals; he who does not provide the preparations for the feast of the season-festivals, and who is yet efficient in the other worship of God. On how to consider, and what to do with, a leader of the high-priest class and a man of the inferior classes; he who atones for unimportant sin, and he who does not atone even for that which is important, and whatever is on the same subject. On the apparatus with which ploughed land (?) is prepared. On the manifestation of virtuous manhood, and the merit and advantage from uttering good words for blessing the eating and drinking of food and drink, and rebuking the inward talk of the demons. On the recitations at the five periods of the day, and the ceremonial invocation by name of many angels, each separately, and great information on the same subject; the worthiness of a man restrained by authority the giving of life and body to the angel the good rulers, and their examination and satisfaction; the blessing and winning words which are most successful in carrying off the affliction which proceeds from a fiend. On all-pleasing creativeness and omniscience, and all precedence (?), leadership, foresight(?), worthy liberality, virtue (?), and every proper cause and effect of righteousness; the individuality of righteousness, the opposition to the demons of Aûharmazd's opinion, and also much other information in the same section.

The middle division has 102 sections, treatises on spiritual and worldly diligence, the leadership of the diligent, and their mighty p. 226 means, all former deeds of righteousness; righteousness kindling the resolution is the reward of merit, each for each, and is adapted by it for that of which it is said that it is the Hâdôkht which is the maintaining of righteousness, so that they may make righteousness more abiding in the body of a man.

'The last division has nineteen sections of trusty remedies, that is, remedies whose utterance aloud by the faithful is a chief resource among the creatures of God; also the nature of sayings full of humility, well-favoured, most select, and adapted for that of which it is said that I reverence that chief, the excellent and eminent Hâdôkht, of which they trust in the sustaining strength of every word of Zaratûst. Perfect is the excellence of righteousness (Av. ashem vohû vahistem astî).'

According to tradition three chapters of this Nask are still extant, being the Yast fragments XXI, XXII of Westergaard's edition of the Avesta Texts; but they do not correspond to any part of the description in the Dînkard. For a description of Dvâzdah-hômâst see Chap. II, 59.

228:6 From this it appears that the writer expected the evil reign of the unbelievers to last a thousand years, that is, till the end of Hûshêdar's millennium, about A.D. 1593-1635, which corresponds very closely with the reign of the great Shâh Abbâs.

229:1 Or, perhaps 'what I said before,' being already narrated in § 29 as performed by Pêshyôtanû before advancing far into Iran.

229:3 Probably a title of Pêshyôtanû; a more obvious translation would be, 'restrains a curbed temper, and is intrusted,' &c,, but it is hardly probable that the warrior prince Vâhrâm could become a priest. It is Vâhrâm's business to restore the empire, leaving Pêshyôtanû to restore the religion.

230:5 The writer having detailed the supernatural means employed for restoring the religion, now returns to the birth of Hûshêdar p. 231 (§ 13) for the purpose of mentioning some of his actions, and making the chronology of his millennium rather more clear. Nothing is said here about his miraculous birth, the details of which are given in the seventh book of the Dînkard very much as they are found in the Persian Rivâyats. The Dînkard states that thirty years before the end of Zaratûst's millennium a young maiden bathing in certain water, and drinking it, becomes pregnant through the long-preserved seed of Zaratûst (see Bund. XXXII, 8, 9), and subsequently gives birth to Hûshêdar.

231:1 There seems to be no other rational way of understanding this number than by supposing that it represents the date of Hûshêdar's birth, counting from the beginning of Zaratûst's millennium. According to this view Hûshêdar was to be born in the six hundredth year of his own millennium, and not at its beginning, as § 13 seems to imply, nor nearly thirty years earlier, as the Dînkard asserts. As the beginning of his millennium may be fixed about A.D. 593-635 (see note on § 11), the writer must have expected him to be born about A.D. 1193-1235; a time which was probably far in the future when he was writing. And as Vâhrâm the Vargâvand was to be born when Hûshêdar was thirty years of age (compare §§ 14) 44), and was to march into Iran at the age of thirty (§ 17), the great conflict of the nations (§§ 8, 19-22) was expected to begin about A.D. 1253-1295, and to continue till near the end of the millennium, about A.D. 1593-1635, when Pêshyôtanû was expected to appear (§ 51) and to restore the 'good' religion (§§ 26, 37, 42). An enthusiastic Parsi interpreter of prophecy might urge that though this period did not witness any revival of his religion, it did witness a restoration of the Persian empire under Shâh Abbâs, and also the first beginning of British power in India, which has been so great a benefit to the scanty, remnant of his fellow-countrymen.

232:2 It is just possible to read, 'the sun with the swift horse, the splendid, moves on, and all mankind fully believe,' &c. But if the reading in the text be correct it effectually disposes of the idea of Vâhrâm being an incarnation of the angel, as an angel would require no miracle to make him believe in the religion.

233:1 This appears to be the meaning, but the latter part of the sentence is not very clear.

233:2 See Bund. XXXII, 8. The name is written Khûrshêd-mâh in K20. The Dînkard gives the same account of the miraculous birth of Hûshêdar-mâh as of the first Hûshêdar (see note on § 43); it also repeats the legend of the sun standing still, but for the longer period of twenty days; all which details are also found in the Persian Rivâyats.

233:4 As in the previous millennium. According to the chronology deduced from § 44 the millennium of Hûshêdar-mâh, which corresponds to the twelfth and last millennium of Bund. XXXIV, is now near the middle of its third century.

233:5 The sentence is either defective or obscure, but this appears to be its meaning.

233:6 The evil spirit is encouraged by an act of religious toleration, apparently, to recommence his manuvres for injuring mankind.

234:3 The var-i Yim kard (see Bund. XXIX, 14). The men and creatures who are supposed to be preserved in this enclosure are expected to replenish the world whenever it has been desolated by wars and oppression.

235:3 The thirteenth millennium, or first of the future existence, when Sôshyans appears. The Dînkard and the Persian Rivâyats recount the same legends regarding the miraculous birth of Sôshyans, and of the sun standing still (for thirty days), as they do with regard to Hûshêdar (see note on § 43).